The general secretary of the PP, Cuca Gamarra, announced this Wednesday that her deputies would vote in favor of the government’s royal decree-law which provides for direct aid worth 10.6 billion to people affected by the DANA which devastated the last week a good part of Valencia. Gamarra affirmed that “the support of the PP is guaranteed” for initiatives “that seek to repair the damage caused”, not “the well-being or comfort of a government”, but that of “thousands of people affected”. Gamarra insisted that Pedro Sánchez had linked the aid to the approval of next year’s budget.
Gamarra assured during a press conference that “all help is needed as quickly as possible and with the least bureaucracy” because those affected “cannot wait any longer”. “The PP will be there,” said the Secretary General, who asked the government to approve more direct aid to victims with other decree-laws. Gamarra supported the request of the President of the Generalitat, Carlos Mazón, who demanded 31 billion dollars from the central government.
“The royal decree of 10.6 billion is not enough,” he declared. “We need more, much more,” he assured. Gamarra called for the measures to be accelerated: “Housing for those who find themselves homeless cannot wait. Health centers, education and security cannot wait,” he added.
Gamarra argued that the 10.6 billion in direct aid and the 5 billion in ICO credits announced by the government are “far below the needs”. “It is essential to respond to the first needs raised by the Generalitat of Carlos Mazón,” he said.
The Secretary General wanted to criticize the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, for allegedly linking aid to Valencians to the general budgets for the year 2025. “Thinking above all about guaranteeing budgets is not the path that so many deserve of Spaniards. who have lost everything and who deserve something else,” Gamarra said.
Yesterday the PP spread the rumor that Sánchez had submitted DANA aid to budget approval. Indeed, the president of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, came to demand an “urgent” royal decree-law a few hours after the government announced its approval.
This morning, the Assistant Secretary for Institutional Affairs, Esteban González Pons, insisted on accusing Pedro Sánchez of “blackmail” because he allegedly “tried to extract a part of the political budget from what happened”. “I’m not going to rate it, but it’s not good. It’s really bad,” he added in an interview on Onda Cero.
With the decree-law of 10.6 billion already published at the BOE, Pons assured that “when something like this happens”, in reference to DANA, “a decree is taken, it is brought to Congress and validated” because “it submitting to budget support, granting aid is taking political advantage, it is bad and ugly,” he concluded.
Gamarra lowered his voice against the government and called for more direct aid: “They must arrive now, they cannot be conditioned on budgets. It’s not necessary and we can’t wait. The way is the royal decree-law of extraordinary credits, credit expansion and credit generation for which the Government has the votes of the PP. If it can be better this week than next,” he said.
